Hey everyone, I only have some new kitbashes for todays’s update, seeing how I am currently swamped with work — and both my plans for the Age of Sigmar starter box minis as well as the paintjob for my “Stormcast Inquisitor” will still take some time to gestate into something tangible. In the meantime, I have returned to my various AdMech plastic kits for a spell of converting, and I realised once again that the Mechanicus models may just be some of the most visually arresting 40k kits currently available!
So I put in some more work on my growing INQ28 Mechanicus warband, which will basically fulfill two goals: One, I want to explore the Adeptus Mechanicus in its different shapes and sizes with this warband, creating a rather eclectic and eccentric collection of models — just as eclectic and eccentric as the Adeptus Mechanicus itself, that is. Two, since I don’t want to assemble an entire army of these guys, this warband will serve as a “best of collection”, so to speak, allowing me to have fun with the AdMech kits I like most.
Speaking of which, my dear cousin Andy recently gave me a box of Sicarian Ruststalkers as a slightly belated birthday present, which was awesome! The kit is chock-full of amazing little bitz — and it has provided me with the material for several conversions. So let me show you what I am currently working on:
First up is the leader of the warband, a slightly tweaked Tech-Priest Domius serving as an Archmagos Veneratus for the Velsian branch of the Adeptus Mechanicus. Now the stock model is so beautiful that I didn’t want to change anything major, but the huge weapon on the Magos’ right side seemed a little OTT for an INQ28 character, which is why I already tried replacing it with an alternate lower arm earlier:
But while the idea seemed sound enough, the look just wasn’t there. Enter the wonderfully creepy chord claws from the Sicarian Ruststalkers kit, one of which provided the perfect alternate hand for the Magos. Take a look:
I am really happy with the result — this is such a minor conversion, really, but that creepy metallic claw just complements the rest of the model rather well, don’t you agree? Plus it still makes for an impressive enough weapons, without looking as OTT as one of the “deathrays” that come with the model ;)
While we are on the subject of Sicarian Ruststalkers, these are easily some of my favourite GW models right now: There’s just something about them that perfectly encapsulates the idea of a lithe, sinister cyborg assassin, which I love immensely. So I might be forgiven for actually assembling two of the models from the kit mostly unchanged:
I only added a small halo taken from a servo-skull to this first guy, which I think rather fits the model. This guy is one of the feared Clockwork Assassins, used as a terror weapon by the Machine Lords of Korhold against their enemies.
I also built the Princeps, once again without any major conversion, save for a different chord claw (to give him a creepy “come hither” pose):
I already mentioned in my review of the Skitarii release how this model didn’t look so much like a unit champ to me, but rather like a more warlike Tech-Priest: All the telltale signs are there — the flowing robes, the cowl, the face full of tubes ;) So I am seeing this guy as some kind of “Magos Militant”, overseeing the performance of the Skitarii on the front line or counseling the sector command when it comes to military questions. I actually considered swapping in some of the more esoteric pieces of equipment from the Sicarian Infiltrators, such as the servo-skull and “grimdark notebook”, but truth be told, I would rather use those bitz on a different model altogether, and the Princeps just has a visual balance that I love — hence a mostly unconverted model, for a change.
Interestingly enough, fellow hobbyist Plus Four pointed out that there’s a precedent for a very similar character in the novel “Priests of Mars”:
As far as the Tech-Magos is concerned you need look no further than Magos Hirimau Dahan from Priests of Mars who is described as having a “muscular body of plastic hued flesh…regular pair of arms…with augmenting energy blades…..a second pair of arms…tipped with a forked weapon….purple lightning arced between the bladed tines”. This would suggest that a combat oriented Secutor Magos looks nothing like the archetypal GW Magos!
So yeah, these guys may be hardly converted at all, but I am still pretty happy with them. And that’s what counts, right?
I did create two slightly more involved pieces, however, even if the first one was basically stolen from somebody else ;)
A while ago, curnow made an excellent Skitarii conversion resembling a Japanese Ashigaru foot-soldier. I loved the idea so much that I simply had to borrow his recipe and make a very similar model, since it seemed like the perfect addition to my collection. I made some small changes to his formula, but the resulting model still owes an enormous debt of inspiration to his. Take a look:
I am really happy with the model, even if I am feeling slighly guilty for borrowing curnow’s excellent idea ;) Several people over at The Ammobunker have taken issue with the length of the rifle, and while they raise some excellent points, I think I’ll keep it this way: I really want it to look as cumbersome as possible: Not only does it provide a fairly unique silhouette, but it’s also a nice sign of the AdMech’s eccentricities. I also think it really adds something to the Ashigaru look mentioned above. Plus it differentiates this guy from the other, slightly sniper-esque Skitarius I have built for the warband:
Speaking of which, this will probably turn out to be quite a band of characters (as per my original mission statement), incorporating such colourful individuals as a “typical” Magos in the warbend, complete with cog-axe and everything, a wraithlike Magos Genetor without a lower body, a burly Magos Explorator, a slack-jawed Magos Xenobiologis with hideous metallic claws, a weird, pseudo-Japanese sniper, a gladiator-esque Clockwork Assassin with a stylised halo, and yeah, a lithe and deadly Tech-Priest on stilts. So what else is new in the 41st millennium? ;)
Here’s the unpainted part of the warband so far:
Before today’s post ends, there’s one last kitbash I would like to share with you: It came about rather organically as an attempt to make a slightly more involved conversion using the Sicarian Ruststalker kit. Plus I also realised that the servo-skull that came with the Tech-Priest Dominus looked far too evil and sinister to be denied a body ;) Check this guy out:
He’s not quite done yet, possibly, but I like where the model is going. I kept thinking “Cyborg Eversor” while making him, for some reason…
So that’s it for today! I would love to hear any feedback you might have in the comments section! And, as always, thanks for looking and stay tuned for more!
Filed under: 40k, Conversions, Inq28, Inquisitor, Pointless ramblings, WIP Tagged: 40k, adeptus mechanicus, AdMech, assassin, conversion, cult mechanicus, explorator, INQ28, inquisitor, kitbash, magos, skitarii, warband, WIP
